It's not new here in the US, I've been using it since the 80s with my frogs and garters. I've recently been using it for my bearded dragons as well, since I have worked with veterinary surgeons for 15 years and we've seen way too many sand impactions.

Against my better judgment, one of the bowel surgery specialists convinced me to keep half of my hatchling beardies on coconut husk and half on paper towels to examine whether the coconut husk is truly as safe as it seems. I gave him fecal samples of all the animals and he found excess cellulose in the feces of the beardies kept on coconut husk which leads us to believe that they are indeed digesting any that they ingested. Belly xrays show no impactions or foreign matter in the guts of any of them.

So in our little study it does appear to be safe. I wish the little devils didn't track it into their salads so much, though.